Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

The business meeting was held on the morning of February 6, 2018, at the University of Georgia school forest in Athens, GA.  Project Advisor Fred Servello welcomed the group and emphasized the purpose of multi-state groups, and remarked that the strength of the white pine group is the focused topic and the wide representation of members from academia, state, and federal agencies.  He complimented the group on achieving a special issue in Forest Ecology and Management, and the development of a draft field manual.  The Project Chair, Dr. Bill Livingston, handed out summaries on the group’s objectives and a link to the Project’s web page for access to group documents and communications:

https://forest.umaine.edu/news-resources/sfr-outreach/eastern-white-pine-health/

The business meeting ended with the approval of officers for the next year:  Bill Livingston as chair, Kamal Gandhi as chair-elect, and Isabel Munck as secretary.   

Kamal Gandhi then introduced the objectives for the remainder of the 3-day meeting that was funded by a USDA AFRI Conference Grant for a “White Pine Health in Eastern Timberlands Work Conference”.  The first day are presentations that will synthesize the current knowledge, and second day is a field trip to view eastern white pine health problems in Georgia’s mountains, and the third day will be a roundtable discussion on gaps in knowledge, sources of funding, strategies for writing proposals, and what the next steps should be. The roundtable discussion indicated two approaches.  One focuses in individual grants focused on specific health problems (Caliciopsis/pine bast scale, white pine needle damage, white pine blister rust).  A second approach would be a region-wide effort to include state, NGO, and federal lands in an effort to address the hypothesis that management of white pine stands is the key factor determining the future health of eastern white pine.  A steering committee of four members will discuss the funding opportunities after the USDA-AFRI RFA’s are published.  The members from Massachusetts volunteered to host the 2019 meeting in June in the area near Northhampton, MA.  More details on the meeting are available in an appended document. 

Plans for the coming year: 

1. The Field Manual for Managing Eastern White Pine Health will be published.
2. Bill Livingston, Kamal Gandhi, Monique Sakalidis, Jeff Garnas, and Isabel Munck will be reviewing the USDA competitive grants program descriptions and assess the best strategies for seeking funds to support research on white pine health and management. Then, plans will be made to develop proposals.
3. Ken Gooch will make arrangements for the 2019 meeting for June in Northhampton, Massachusetts. In addition to the meeting, a field trip will be planned.

Short-term Outcomes and Outputs

 Bergdahl, Aaron, Dave Struble, Ken Gooch, Kyle Lombard, Jessica Cancelliere, Paul Ricard, Isabel Munck, and Josh Halman.   2017-19.  Monitoring eastern white pine decline and its causes in New England and New York through enhanced survey methods.  USDA Forest Service, Evaluation and Monitoring Grant. $72,800

 Activities

Whitney, T.D., B.F. Barnes, M.M. Cram, R.D Lucardi and K.J.K. Gandhi [Oral].  Patterns of bast scale and pathogen colonization mirror patterns of eastern white pine dieback. 58th Annual Southern Forest Insect Work Conference. July 2017. Melbourne, FL.

Whitney, T.D., Lucardi, R.D., and Gandhi, K.J.K.  Associations between Matsucoccus macrocicatrices, Caliciopsis pinea, and eastern white pine dieback in the Appalachians [Poster] The XXVIII USDA Interagency Forum on Invasive Species. January 2017. Annapolis, Maryland. 

D’Amato, Tony.  Northeast Silviculture Institute presentation on the ecology and silviculture of Pine-Oak-Hemlock forests https://silvicultureinstitute.org/pine-oak-hemlockagenda). 

Lori Chamberlin and Katlin Mooneyham, Jill Rose, Chris Asaro.  Monitoring of eastern white pine health on permanent plots in Virginia and West Virginia.  

Brazee, Nicholas.  Annual meeting of the Massachusetts Tree Wardens’ and Foresters’ Association, Sturbridge, MA (1/11/17) 

Brazee, Nicholas.  SiteOne Landscapes 2017 Northern Recertification Seminar, Taunton, MA (2/15/17) 

Brazee, Nicholas.  University of Massachusetts Community Tree Conference, Amherst, MA (3/7/17) 

Brazee, Nicholas.  Western Mass. Tree Wardens Summer Meeting, Northampton, MA (6/20/17) 

Brazee, Nicholas.  UMass Extension Landscape and Forest Tree and Shrub Disease Workshop, Amherst, MA (9/21/17) 

McIntire, Cameron.  A research update on white pine needle damage, Disease section of the 8th issue of the 2017 UMass Extension Landscape Message (http://ag.umass.edu/landscape/landscape-message-may-12-2017) 

Munck, I. A. Soil and stocking effects on Caliciopsis canker of Pinus strobus L. Northeast Pest Council & NE Society of American Foresters Annual Winter Meeting. March 8-10, 2017, Orono, Maine. 

Bergdahl, Aaron, and I.A. Munck. U.S. Eastern white pine needle damage update and survey planning meeting. U.S. Forest Service-Northeastern Area-Forest Health Protection-Durham Field Office (USFS-NA-FHP-DFO) State Cooperators’ Annual Meeting, October 24-25, 2017, Providence, RI. 

Munck, Isabel.  Extent and severity of Caliciopsis canker in New England, with a focus on soil and stocking. White Pine Health in Eastern Timberlands Workshop, February 6-9, 2018, Athens, GA 

Costanza, Kara.  Impact of Caliciopsis canker on eastern white pine (Pinus strobus L. ) trees in northeastern US. White Pine Health in Eastern Timberlands Workshop, February 6-9, 2018, Athens, GA 

Cram, Michelle.  Pathogenicity of fungi isolated from cankers found on eastern white pine (Pinus strobus L.) saplings across the southeastern US. White Pine Health in Eastern Timberlands Workshop, February 6-9, 2018, Athens, GA 

Sakalidis, Monique.  Genetics of Caliciopsis species affecting Pinus spp; what we know and what we need to find out. White Pine Health in Eastern Timberlands Workshop, February 6-9, 2018, Athens, GA 

Pike, Carrie.  Improving the resistance of eastern white pine to white pine blister rust disease. White Pine Health in Eastern Timberlands Workshop, February 6-9, 2018, Athens, GA

McIntire, Cameron.  Impacts and management of white pine needle damage in the northeastern US. White Pine Health in Eastern Timberlands Workshop, February 6-9, 2018, Athens, GA 

Livingston, Bill.  Using tree rings as a measure of predisposing and inciting stresses affecting tree health: A case study on how a drought affected eastern white pine. White Pine Health in Eastern Timberlands Workshop, February 6-9, 2018, Athens, GA

Asaro, Chris.  White pine dieback in the southern Appalachians. White Pine Health in Eastern Timberlands Workshop, February 6-9, 2018, Athens, GA 

Schulz, Ashley.  What’s been “bugging” the white pine? A quest to inspect the abiotic and biotic factors associated with Pinus strobus dieback in the southern Appalachian Mountains. White Pine Health in Eastern Timberlands Workshop, February 6-9, 2018, Athens, GA 

Whitney, Thomas.  First glimpse into the continental. White Pine Health in Eastern Timberlands Workshop, February 6-9, 2018, Athens, GA 

Cram, Michelle.  Heterobasidion root disease occurrence in eastern white pine. White Pine Health in Eastern Timberlands Workshop, February 6-9, 2018, Athens, GA 

Stanosz, Glen.  The increasing threat of Heterobasidion root disease to eastern white pine. White Pine Health in Eastern Timberlands Workshop, February 6-9, 2018, Athens, GA 

Lucardi, Rima.  Biogeographical implications and anthropogenic impacts in the post. White Pine Health in Eastern Timberlands Workshop, February 6-9, 2018, Athens, GA 

Livingston, Bill.  Using eastern white pine silviculture to reduce the risk of health issue. White Pine Health in Eastern Timberlands Workshop, February 6-9, 2018, Athens, GA 

Milestones:

Milestone 1 Accomplishments:  Development of a research proposal by project members will occur over a multi-year time frame.  

Organized and completed a special edition on Eastern White Pine Health in Forest Ecology and Management.  Eleven articles will be published.  This provides the scholarly basis for future research on eastern white pine health.

Received USDA AFRI conference funding of $25,000 for “White Pine Health in Eastern Timberlands Work Conference” that is supporting this year’s meeting.  This has initiated discussion on priorities and discussions for research proposals.

Milestone 2 Accomplishments:  A white pine health management publication will be developed.

A draft has been developed for a field manual on eastern white pine health for New England.  Although developed based on New England needs, the publication will be relevant to needs throughout the range of eastern white pine.

12 manuscripts will be published in the May 2018 special issue of Forest Ecology and Management on Eastern White Pine Health.